3 Reasons to Take the Next ThingLink Teacher Summer Challenge

We are pleased to announce the 2nd ThingLink Teacher Summer Challenge, back by popular demand. Sign upnow to prepare to join us when we officially launch at ISTE 2015 during the week of June 29th. We will begin with the 1st activity during the week of July 5, 2015

About the ThingLink Summer Teacher Challenge

The ThingLink Summer Teacher Challenge is a free, self-paced, online professional development opportunity designed to help teachers explore the powerful possibilities of using ThingLink for teaching and learning. This 5 week challenge invites teachers to have fun learning to use interactive images, slideshow channels and interactive video to power up your pedagogy and redefine learning in the classroom.

Throughout the challenge, we will use the ThingLink flexible suite of interactive tools for schools to create media rich, customized resources for use in your classroom. The weekly challenge activities are designed to be beneficial to educators who are new to ThingLink and also to experienced users. We will explore all the flexible features of ThingLink and discover the tremendous potential for using this amazing tool. Here are 3 reasons to take the ThingLink Summer Teacher Challenge.

Engage in Self-Paced Summer Learning Through Constructive Play

Summer is a time when teachers can enjoy a break from the highly scheduled daily routines of the school year and the ThingLink Summer Teacher Challenge is designed to compliment your summer lifestyle. There are no rigid deadlines to interfere with your plans, so you can progress at your own pace and enjoy the freedom and time you need to learn and experiment through constructive play. Of course, there will be plenty of support available as you need it throughout the challenge.

Connect and Share with a Community of Learners to Build Your PLN

As use of technology in the classroom becomes more prevalent, and we strive to adapt to the changing educational climate, it can be difficult and sometimes overwhelming to keep up if we are trying to do it all on our own. The ThingLink Teacher Challenge is designed around the idea that we are all learning together.

One of the of the goals of this professional development opportunity is to connect, collaborate and build on the ideas of others through a shared workspace. We will utilize the streamlined management and workspace available within a simulated District Organization to facilitate immediate sharing of work and to inspire each other throughout the challenge. As a bonus, all participants will get a 3 month EDU Premium trial for use to provide you with the opportunity to unleash the full potential of ThingLink.

Create and Curate Resources for Use in Your Classroom

In addition to learning to use the powerful features available with ThingLink, each of the weekly challenges is designed to meet several EDU goals aligned with best practices and standards. The end result will be the creation of your own ready to use customized portfolio of differentiated resources to match your learning targets. In addition, you will learn to embrace the use of slideshow channels to curate a collection of resources created by others. You can use the resources as is, or remix them to fit your specific teaching and learning goals.

ThingLink Summer Teacher Challenge at a Glance

Week 1: Design Your Digital SelfGet started with ThingLink, a very useful activity to get you and your students started

Week 2: Curate Incredible ContentDiscover, collect, reuse and remix the work of others.

Week 3: Design an Interactive Collaborative Student ProjectLearn to combine ThingLink with the power of Google Docs to create engaging learning experiences

Week 4: Explore ThingLink UnPluggedExplore learning on the go with a mobile device without wireless access.

Week 5: Flip It with ThingLink for VideoLearn to create interactive video and include it in a slideshow channel.

Week 1 will begin with week 1 during the week of July 5, 2015 and continue working through each of the 5 challenge activities.

Sign Up to Take the ThingLink Summer Teacher Challenge

We hope you can join us for this flexible summer learning adventure. All you have to do is sign up. After you sign up, you will receive a step-by-step guide to help you join our group with the invite code. This will give you access to the EDU Premium trial so you can truly explore the powerful possibilities of teaching and learning with ThingLink EDU.

We hope you will join us for this fun filled and excited, self-paced professional learning opportunity. Questions? Please email Susan@thinglink.com.

Susan Oxnevad is the Director of Education at ThingLink. She strives to build a powerful network of educators who share a passion for using ThingLink to transform teaching and learning. In addition, she also hosts ThingLink webinars for educators and blogs about thoughtful ways to leverage the power of technology for teaching and learning on the ThingLink Blog for Education. Follow her on Twitter @soxnevad